Sometimes we can all use a little perspective, so here's some:
 
Opponents scoring average: 21.3
Opponents rushing yards per game: 215.0
Opponents passing yards per game: 247.7
Opponents average yards per game: 462.7
Opponents third-down conversion rate: 47%
 
What's listed above is not what this year's defense has given up, but rather what last year's defense gave up through its first three games against Missouri, Youngstown State and BYU. That's against one Power 5 opponent, one FCS opponent and an opponent not in a Power 5 conference.
 
Now, compare that to what the defense has allowed so far this year with FCS foe Delaware State left before the Mountaineers begin Big 12 play next weekend at Kansas:
 
Opponents scoring average: 25.5
Opponents rushing yards per game: 188.0
Opponents passing yards per game: 281.5
Opponents yards per game: 469.5
Opponents third-down conversion rate: 31%
 
Looks about the same, doesn't it? Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson thinks so too.
 
"If you go back and watch us after the first three games we weren't real good and I was frustrated," Gibson said. "It's the same spot we're in right now."
 
He's right.
 
If you recall, last year he was replacing a lot of players off a very successful defense in 2015 that once played 12 straight quarters without allowing a touchdown - the longest streak of any FBS defense that season.
 
The difference last year, however, is most of those replacements in 2016 had some type of experience playing Gibson's defense. The game one starting linebackers against Missouri were Sean Walters, Al-Rasheed Benton and Justin Arndt, all three longtime program players.
 
This year, that's not the case - yet.
 
"They knew the scheme and understood everything going on up front," Gibson pointed out. "Then behind them, you had two guys at safety who had played with Kyzir (White) being the only new guy. At corner, those guys were new but Rasul (Douglas) had been in the program for a year. These guys now are right off the street in our building and playing."
 
When you look at things that way, the defense is probably performing as expected. But if you also look at Gibson's track record since he took over the defensive coordinator duties in 2014, his defenses have consistently gotten better throughout the season.
 
He's not changing schemes or philosophies or doing anything radical, he's just going to continue to coach up his players and continue to figure out what they can and cannot do.
 
Don't forget, nine new guys are not only getting significant college snaps for the first time, but they're also getting significant college snaps for the first time TOGETHER. They're still learning how to play with and off each other.
 
And there is only one way they can learn how to do that - by playing.
 
"Right now, we're not going to stone people, shut them out and hold them to 100 yards, I don't care who we play," Gibson said. "Nothing I'm saying is negative toward the kids. It's the truth and I'm telling them the same thing. I'm not down on these guys at all."

Gibson also mentioned this: If the defense can hold Delaware State to less than 454 yards and 13 points on Saturday, the three-game stats will be exactly the same as last year's stats through three games.
 
Remember, that was against one Power 5 opponent, one FCS opponent and one opponent not in a Power 5 conference - which is exactly what West Virginia is playing again this year.
 
Now, on to more Mountaineer football notes to get you ready for this weekend …

 

* A lot of the technology now being employed by our athletic teams is venturing a little bit out into space as far as this technically challenged mind is concerned, but some of it is interesting nonetheless.
 
The athletic training and strength and conditioning staffs can now measure the fitness level of Mountaineer football players with a small device that sits on the back of each player and monitors what they do during the day. West Virginia has chosen to use a vest-type device while other programs, such as Texas, chose to have it sewn into the players' practice jerseys and removed by a zipper.
 
"There is a difference in walking 10 miles and sprinting 10 miles," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen noted. "I can walk 10 miles in about a week; Gary Jennings sprinted 10 miles against Virginia Tech. That's problematic, so we monitor it every time they work out."
 
Holgorsen said the strength and conditioning staff posts the numbers in the weight room so the players can compare with each other how much they have worked during the week.
 
"They compete with it a little bit," Holgorsen said. "You can really tell if a guy was dogging it that day or if he was going hard that day. Those numbers support what you see on video a lot. I think the more we know about it, the more we're going to use it."
 
George Orwell once warned us about this: 1984 is here!
 
More Holgorsen Tuesday afternoon presser tidbits …

 

* True freshman safety Kenny Robinson played a little corner last Saturday against East Carolina and will continue to get reps there, Holgorsen said.
 
What Holgorsen really likes about Robinson, in addition to his lanky 6-foot-2-inch frame, is his competitiveness.
 
"He's not going to beat out any of the safeties that we have out there right now and Kenny wants to compete right now, so he's been lining up at corner for about a week," Holgorsen said. "He got in there and he competed."
 
Robinson played just about everything at Imani Christian Academy, earning all-state honors last year as a defensive back.
 
"When we recruited him we were like, 'I think that guy might be a corner,'" Holgorsen said.
 
"The thing I like about him is he's fearless," Gibson added. "He's 6-foot-2 and he can run. He's a football player and I want guys like that on our defense. If he has to line up near our sideline for every rep then that's what's going to happen. I'll tell him what to do on every snap just like we did on Saturday."
 
* Bad luck continues to follow former Mountaineer wide receiver Kevin White, who fractured his shoulder blade in last Sunday's season-opening loss to Atlanta. It's the latest setback for the former Chicago Bears first-rounder.
 
Holgorsen touched on how precarious professional football can be to a player.
 
"He's my guy. I talk to him all the time and we have a great relationship," Holgorsen said. "What are you going to say? When you make the decision to play football, there's risk with injuries, whether they're short-term injuries or long-term injuries or whatever it is.
 
"It's not fair and you never can tell when or why. Just put your head down and keep moving forward; he's as positive as anybody I've ever coached and he's optimistic," Holgorsen said. "You can't ask why in situations like that, you just have to do what you have to do to get back out there."
 
Hopefully Kevin's luck changes soon.
 
* Holgorsen is cautiously optimistic about the improvement his team has made in returning punts. Now that he is no longer calling plays, Holgorsen has taken a more active role in the team's special teams play.
 
He said the blocking on punt returns is getting better. Marcus Simms returned one punt for 23 yards last Saturday against ECU and was very close to breaking it. Since Tavon Austin's departure in 2012, returning punts has been an Achilles heel for the Mountaineers.
 
From 2013-16, 15 different players returned 90 punts for just 311 yards, an average of 3.5 yards per return.
 
But Holgorsen sees a ray of light coming through the darkness with the speedy Simms and freshman Tevin Bush back there and better blocking in front of them.
 
"Marcus and Tevin made two really good catches on punts," Holgorsen said. "Those were not easy catches. One time we got a (23-yard) return and then Tevin, when he didn't return it, had had a lot of space in front of him. That's just a young guy that's not wanting to make a mistake right now. We haven't had that much space in a long time."
 
At least since 2012, that's for sure.

 

* Holgorsen said offensive line depth is still a work in progress. Grant Lingafelter missed last Saturday's game against ECU after getting injured in the Virginia Tech opener, and Jacob Buccigrossi is still on the mend since injuring his knee last spring.
 
"They are guys that can play for us right now," Holgorsen noted. "I have to see how they're doing here this week, whether they're going to play this week, next week, or into the bye week."
 
Some new players such as Kelby Wickline and Isaiah Hardy got on the field last Saturday against East Carolina, and at times it showed.
 
"I wasn't real excited about cutting a couple of (defensive) linemen just absolutely loose when our starting quarterback is in there - that can't happen," he said. "You can't whiff and let guys run through the A and B gap. That happened a couple of times too much.
 
"But with that said, that's what you're going to get when you're playing young guys. In a perfect world, you'd have all juniors and seniors going up front. That's not the situation we're in, so those guys have to get better now."
 
* Working on the other sidelines this Saturday for Delaware State is a very familiar name to college football fans - former Alabama linebacker E.J. Junior, a two-time All-American player for legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and 1980 SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Junior played 13 seasons in the NFL with the Cardinals, Seahawks, Dolphins and Buccaneers and currently serves as the Hornets' defensive line coach and director of player development.
 
He is on this year's ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame.
 
* It's obvious from Delaware State's recent struggles that the Hornets won't rank among some of the stronger FCS teams to play at Milan Puskar Stadium, but there have been some pretty good ones to play here since the NCAA adopted a 12^th regular season game in 2006, providing an avenue for these FBS-FCS matchups.
 
Probably the best FCS team to play here was Mickey Mathew's 2004 James Madison Dukes team that won 13 games and defeated Montana, 31-21, in the I-AA national championship game that season.
 
A close second would probably be Bo Pelini's Youngstown State team last year that won 12 games before falling to James Madison in the FCS national championship game. If you recall, both Penguin defensive ends off that team, Derek Rivers and Avery Moss, were taken in last spring's NFL Draft.
 
In 2011, during Dana Holgorsen's first season coaching the Mountaineers, Norfolk State actually led the Mountaineers 12-10 at halftime before WVU woke up and erupted for 45 points in the second half.
 
Coaching Norfolk State that year was former Mountaineer player Pete Adrian.
 
Two years prior to that, Liberty probably had the best player on the football field that afternoon in wide receiver Mike Brown, who caught 11 passes for 157 yards against the Mountaineers, including a 20-yard touchdown from quarterback Tommy Beecher.
 
Coach Andy Talley's Villanova team in 2008 won 10 games and advanced to the FCS quarterfinals. Playing defensive back for the Wildcats that year was Ross Ventrone, who spent some time in the NFL with the Patriots and Steelers.
 
And, speaking of individual performers, Richmond specialist Jesse Williams once drove a young Don Nehlen nuts when the Spiders took West Virginia right down to the wire in a 31-28 Mountaineer victory.
 
This happened during Nehlen's first season coaching the Mountaineers in 1980 when the I-AA Spiders were still a regular on WVU's football slate.
 
Williams returned the game's opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and nearly broke off another one for a score. He returned five kicks for a total of 215 yards that afternoon, a reminder that shaky kick coverage has always been a part of our DNA.
 
* Delaware State's marching band is coming to Morgantown for Saturday's game and will provide halftime entertainment. Here is a clip of a recent performance at Temple:
 

 
I know I will be watching!
 
I hope to see you at the stadium on Saturday for Family Day. The extended forecast is calling for partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 80s.
 
Before you enter the stadium be sure to stop by the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility to catch this year's WVU Sports Hall of Fame ceremony beginning at 9:30 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.
 
Have a great weekend!